Record numbers take advantage of UConn's lower-cost offerings

STORRS -- A record number of University of Connecticut students enrolled in summer school this year, taking advantage of incentives that include lower tuition and half-priced housing.

More than 8,800 students enrolled in one or both of the school's summer sessions, said Stephanie Reitz, a school spokeswoman.

That is up 22 percent from 2009, the year before the school began offering housing incentives for its summer programs.

"It's the largest we've had, at least since we've been keeping numbers," Reitz said. "In the summer of 2010, we had about 300 students actually staying on campus. This summer that's up to about 650, so that's more than doubled."

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UConn has a total enrollment of just over 30,000 students, including more than 17,000 undergraduates on its main campus in Storrs.

Sandy Baum, a higher education policy analyst for the College Board who teaches at George Washington University, says universities across the country have been actively trying to increase summer enrollment. She said it's an effort to keep from wasting classroom space and teaching time and a way to save students money.

Students taking summer classes are often able to graduate a semester early or at least within four years, she said.

"It's clearly optimal for students and institutions to get them to use that summer term," she said. "The biggest benefit is you get another year in the labor market. That tuition savings is nothing relative to the fact that you could have been working at a job."

Reitz said UConn has found that in-state students who take one or two courses each summer can save up to $10,000 on the cost of a bachelor's degree, while the savings for an out-of-state student can be upward of $30,000.

The school has been actively trying to increase summer enrollment by offering half-priced housing to students and in-state tuition to out-of state students, Reitz said.

Students also receive reduced prices on meal plans and are offered assistance in landing summer jobs in the area, she said.

"There's also a special series of summer programs that UConn also puts on for the students," she said. "There's things like barbecues and off-campus bus trips and movie nights."

Baum said most schools cut the price of tuition for summer school but might be offering other incentives in part because the federal government recently stopped giving additional Pell Grant money for summer school.

UConn has been adding to its class offerings in the summer, both on campus and online, to make the sessions more attractive, Reitz said.

Class sizes also tend to be much smaller than those offered during the traditional school year, which has been an incentive to many of the professors who have agreed to teach in the summer.

"They really like the pace because they can work more closely with students," she said. "Some of our best experts are leading classes this summer."